Bio
Kelly Breedlove is a photo based mixed media artist born and raised in rural Georgia. He is a 1989 graduate of Ga Tech. He grew up surrounded by a unique southern cowboy culture and inherited a love of snapshot photography from his mother. Much of his work starts with photos from her private collection. Using personal family photos as a beginning, Breedlove’s work reconciles childhood memories with intricate adult relationships and emotions. He has exhibited his work in numerous group shows in Atlanta and is included in many private collections around the south. He is represented by The Bill Lowe Gallery in Atlanta.
Artist Statement
My work deals with themes of loneliness, abandonment, betrayal and isolation stemming from early childhood memories and familial relationships. My work is photo based, but I am not a photographer. I begin by choosing photos I connect with on a visceral level, photos that resonate with me from my core. These are usually personal family photos, but not always. Sometimes they are of strangers, but the activities or emotions depicted in the photos always resonate with me deeply, and usually connect to my childhood in some way or another.
Through my selection and handling of each photograph, I try to explore and uncover the true emotion, “my truth”, in what is depicted on photo paper at that moment in time. Oftentimes the scene depicted doesn’t match the true emotional undercurrent present in the situation. I use mark making techniques to shift the visual focus, evoke certain moods, reveal hidden meaning and help me connect on a deeper level with the subject matter in the photo.
My mark making may take the form of sloppy splashes of paint, collaging of material elements, adjustments in photoshop and the physical deconstruction and deterioration of the photo itself. I do this all in an effort to discover and convey the photo from my point of view. If I had taken the photo the image would be from my point of view at the time the photo was taken, but since I was not the photographer, I am appropriating the image and using my techniques to express my truth regarding the subject matter.
Exhibitions
Solo Show
2020 “No ‘F’Art Here - Art In The Early Days of the Covid Pandemic”, Stacks Atlanta Pop Up Gallery, Atlanta, Ga
2017 "Witness Marks", Hathaway Contemporary, Atlanta, GA
Group Shows
2018 “Don’t Know Why You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello”, David + Schweitzer, Brooklyn, NY
2016 “Community”, Hathaway Contemporary Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2016 "Little Things", Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2016 “ARTCAN”, Atlanta, GA
2013 “Artists of the Fine Arts Atelier”, Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2012 "The Estate - A Collection Curated by Bill Lowe Gallery", Atlanta, GA
2012 "Elements" Bill Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA